We polish up our crystal ball, pressure our tea leaves, and lay out our tarot playing cards to provide you with 9 traits we’ll be seeing extra of in 2024 – for higher and for worse.
Up to now, technical innovation has introduced us game-changing traits resembling progressive geometry, 29in wheels, mullet bikes, stealth dropper posts, single-ring drivetrains and inner body storage. All issues we now take without any consideration. However, for higher or for worse, what are the traits we’re seeing influencing bike design proper now? And what are the longer term developments we’ll be seeing built-in into one of the best mountain bikes of tomorrow? These are the questions we’re going to try to reply on this video.
Pinion’s modern E1.12 Motor Gearbox Unit may very well be the way forward for e-bike drivetrains
1. Gearboxes
We’ve been round lengthy sufficient to have seen the development for gearbox bikes come and go a number of instances. Usually what we see are just a few headline grabbing prototypes, loads of chatter within the boards – again when individuals used to make use of boards – after which nothing. The hype would die away and everybody would return to their derailleurs and that will be the tip of it for one more 5 years.
Gearbox bikes are nothing new – this Orange Unusual Prototype is from 2005. © Andrew Lloyd
And the the reason why they by no means gained traction had been: they incur extra friction; they had been clunky; the shifters weren’t very ergonomic; and also you couldn’t shift below load. On each gearbox bike we’ve ridden – and there have been a lot – we got here to the identical conclusion: good thought, disgrace in regards to the execution. Solely the Honda RN01 appeared to supply the proper resolution – a shrunken derailleur drivetrain in a field. However that by no means made it to market.
The basic RN01 downhill bike is now 20 years previous, however nonetheless appears cutting-edge.
So, is 2024’s development for gearbox bikes as a lot of a pink herring because it’s all the time been? Possibly not, as there’s a product which will have solved the largest points with earlier gearboxes, specifically the shifter itself and altering gear below load. That product is the Pinion E1.12S Motor Gearbox Unit, or MGU.
Pinion E1.12 Motor Gearbox Unit system.
Nicely-known for its gearboxes, Pinion has mixed a motor and gearbox right into a single unit that may be a potential sport changer for e-bikes. Providing the panacea of much less upkeep, lowered danger of harm, and fewer unsprung mass, the MGU has the potential to final a lifetime. In contrast to a derailleur system, you can too shift whereas coasting, and even whenever you’re stationary.
That is the Nicolai/Geometron with Pinion gearbox from 2014.
The 12 gears boast a 600% vary, and whereas the 4.1kg drive unit and gearbox is heavier than a standalone motor, it helps you to save round 800g on the rear axle. Which ought to assist the suspension motion and doubtlessly the dynamics of the bike. All you could do is change the gearbox oil yearly.
Simplon’s Rapcon Pmax is certainly one of a handful of e-bikes on sale with the Pinion system.
For the time being it’s obtainable on fashions from Rotwild, Simplon, and Bulls. However we wouldn’t be stunned to see different manufacturers leaping on the bandwagon over the subsequent 12 months.
Santa Cruz’s Heckler SL is just about indistinguishable from an everyday analogue path bike.
The opposite large development we’re seeing gathering momentum at the moment is for light-weight, mid-power e-bikes. Sure, we’ve been saying this yearly for about 5 years now, however 2024 might actually be the 12 months it catches on. And the reason being, the arrival of Bosch.
With its new Efficiency SX motor, the German big boasts extra energy and vary than its rivals, in addition to a very good popularity for reliability and repair. We’ve already ridden the brand new motor on a Whyte E-Lyte and the Bulls Sonic Evo SX and we count on many extra manufacturers to supply bikes with this method in 2024.
The Whyte E-Lyte 150 Works will get the brand new Bosch SX motor with 600w peak energy.
Will it’s sufficient to prise present e-bike homeowners away from their heavyweight, full energy machines? That’s the large query, and it’s actually not going to be simple, as energy is an addictive drug. However the potential to get pleasure from a extra versatile bike, with extra playful dealing with, may very well be sufficient to get some riders to go chilly turkey. Likewise, these riders nonetheless holding out on an analogue bike could discover it more and more troublesome to withstand the lure of the darkside.
The Orange Section EVO smuggles in a compact space for storing above the battery.
3. Inside body storage on e-bikes
One thing which may come hand-in-hand with the expansion in new weight loss program e-bike fashions is inner body storage . Commonplace on analogue bikes, it’s not one thing we’ve seen till lately on e-bikes, for the plain purpose that there’s a ruddy nice battery contained in the down tube.
However Orange’s newest Section Evo, with the Bosch SX motor, managed to search out sufficient area on the prime of the down tube for a small storage compartment. Contemplating how a lot we like inner storage on bio-powered bikes, we reckon this is able to be a very nice addition to light-weight e-bikes as nicely. They don’t have to be large, however anyplace you may match a tube, mini-tool, or packet of emergency jelly infants is sweet by us.
That is the way forward for cable routing that’s being rammed down our throats.
4. Headset-routed cables
Okay, now for a development we’d like to see the again of. No surprises for guessing, it’s headset routed cables.
It seems like there’s a bunch of disgruntled highway bike engineers on the market – which have hated having to implement thru-axles, disc brakes, and massive quantity tyres on their streamlined pace machines – and have determined to take revenge by giving us headset cable routing.
OK, okay, possibly it may, and I stress can, provide you with a clear cockpit look. However not all the time, and it may additionally make your cockpit appear to be a canine’s dinner. And possibly you may argue that there’s much less danger of damaging your cables in a crash when the bars spin spherical.
However in each different manner it sucks. Please kill it with hearth.
SRAM’s Powertrain combines the motor and drivetrain and contains hi-tech options resembling Auto-Shift and Coast Shift.
5. Higher autonomy and integration
One other development that can stir the feelings of any passionate mountain biker is the rise of the machine. More and more, the common-or-garden mountain bike is being managed – not by the nut that holds the bars – however by quite a few microchips and algorithms. People are being sidelined, riders have gotten extra like passengers, and the very purity of mountain biking is below menace.
The brains of RockShox Flight Attendant lies within the fork
Nicely, that’s the alarmist, clickbait, headline-grabbing tackle know-how resembling Auto Shift, Flight Attendant and ABS braking. The reality is, that these methods are on a tiny proportion of very costly fashions, so that is hardly an evil phenomenon that’s plotting world domination.
And you may simply swap it off.
Bosch e-bike ABS brakes have been out for a few years.
Put apart your prejudices and truly trip these methods, and also you begin to see the benefits emerge from the paranoia. Maybe not all over the place, in each scenario, for each rider, however in loads of circumstances they do a greater job than we will. Which may, in flip, unencumber your psychological or bodily capability to do one thing else higher.
So having the ability to ignore your suspension, or your gear modifications, or how sensitively you pull the brake, means that you can brake later, select a greater line, or enhance your timing. And that may be an enormous profit. We’re additionally merely scratching the floor of what these methods are able to. So there’s little doubt that they are going to solely get cheaper and more practical over time. We simply want a foolproof manner of remembering to cost all these additional batteries after each trip.
The Atherton AM. 170 will get a Dave Weagle-designed DW6 suspension linkage.
6. Complicated suspension linkages
After a protracted interval of consolidating suspension designs throughout the business, it appears like we may very well be about to enter a world of wacky linkages once more. Throughout the board, frames appear to have settled on a variation of rocker hyperlink four-bar, seatstay/yoke pushed 4 bar and digital pivot twin-link designs. This has led to a great deal of related trying bikes.
The Yeti 160E has a 6-bar suspension design.
Ubiquity will not be nice for enterprise, and within the quest to enhance product differentiation, we might begin seeing some loopy designs break cowl, even from mainstream manufacturers. That’s the purely cynical take. What’s additionally driving this development is the hunt for higher suspension efficiency.
The place manufacturers search to manage a number of suspension variables individually, resembling leverage fee, axle path, anti-squat and anti-rise. Attempting to optimise a number of traits directly results in extra pivots, extra linkages, and far larger complexity, but additionally has the potential to ship higher suspension efficiency. And that’s why we’re listening to extra about bikes with six-bar linkages, such because the Atherton bike, the Commencal Supreme V5, Specialised’s new Demo prototype, and the Yeti 160E.
Aper Bikes’s KOMPace makes use of a rail system to drive the shock and alter the axle path.
We’re additionally seeing bikes with primary pivots and shocks on rails, to present extra consistency and management over leverage or axle path. It’s not a brand new idea, but it surely’s actually one which appears to be making a comeback.
Hope’s 155mm EVO cranks are a find it irresistible or hate it element
7. Quick cranks
Quick cranks is a development that additionally appears to be gathering momentum. E-bikes had been the unique catalyst behind this development, the place the necessity for floor clearance surpasses the requirement for extra crank leverage. Which has led to 165mm and 160mm cranks now being commonplace on e-bikes.
The Whyte E-Lyte 150 Works additionally comes with Hope’s 155mm cranks.
However quick cranks have additionally been spreading their wings onto analogue bikes, helped by the arrival of Hope’s 155mm Evo cranks. Now we’ve acquired quick crank evangelists resembling Dakota Norton and Remi Morton flying the flag, the development is bound to assemble tempo.
Specialised Stumpy Evo Alloy Elite will get adjustable head angle/attain and two rear centre/BB peak choices.
8. Extra adjustable sizing/geometry
OK, this one is nothing new, however with extra manufacturers including adjustability to their bikes, we figured it was value together with right here. Specialised is the undisputed king of mutation, with bikes just like the Stumpjumper Evo, Turbo Levo, Levo SL and Kenevo SL providing intensive adjustment choices. However loads of different manufacturers, together with Trek, Canyon, and Scott, permit customisation of weight steadiness and sizing with drop-in headset cups. And, extra considerably, the potential to cut back the variety of fashions every model produces. Which leads us into the ultimate development…
Only a small snapshot of Dice’s path bike vary.
9. Vary consolidation
Mannequin ranges have expanded massively over the previous couple of years, as manufacturers attempt to cater to an ever-increasing spectrum of tastes. To be thought of a complete model, you could have a few hardtail designs, an XC bike, a down-country bike, a path bike, an enduro bike, a downhill bike, a light-weight e-bike, and a full energy e-bike. Then possibly you want each full 29in and mullet variations of the most well-liked platforms. You’ll want no less than 4 body sizes for every mannequin, and to get a very good unfold of costs, you’ll most likely wish to supply each alloy and carbon frames.
With each mannequin getting three value factors, you’re taking a look at over 50 totally different fashions, instances 4 body sizes. That’s no less than 200 totally different mountain bike SKUs for a giant model like Trek or Specialised. In actuality it’s many extra.
Which appears fully psychological to us, and completely unsustainable given the financial local weather, and environmental considerations. So, we count on some big selection consolidations over the subsequent few years, the place manufacturers trim the fats from their ranges, and possibly attempt to incorporate adjustable sizing and geometry to their fashions in order that they’ll manufacture fewer frames however cowl the identical scope of rider heights.
However that’s only a hunch. We’ll see because the 12 months goes on.
The post 2024’s finest and worst tech traits: What is going on to excite and annoy us within the subsequent 12 months? appeared first on lickscycles.com.
source https://lickscycles.com/2024s-finest-and-worst-tech-traits-what-is-going-on-to-excite-and-annoy-us-within-the-subsequent-12-months/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=2024s-finest-and-worst-tech-traits-what-is-going-on-to-excite-and-annoy-us-within-the-subsequent-12-months
No comments:
Post a Comment